The Knicks entered the NBA Draft with two selections and a lot of questions about how to cap space – and they ended it with three future conditional first-round picks, a second-round selection in Dukes Trevor Keels, four less future second-round picks, and $12 extra million in space from dealing their first-round pick and Kemba Walker in separate deals.
Quite the confusing night in terms of moves, and one that confused many fans, pundits, and sports talk radio hosts as to exactly what the Knicks were doing – but have no fear, as team president Leon Rose cleared that up in a statement released Friday afternoon.
“Last night, we made three trades involving draft picks, which resulted in increased financial flexibility and additional draft capital moving forward,” the statement began. “We now have a total of 22 picks, 11 in the first round and 11 in the second round, over the next seven years, and we have the ability to be active in free agency and the trade market.”
The $12 million in cap space does help with endeavors like, say, the pursuit of Jalen Brunson, but with several of those listed picks conditional, it’s almost certain that at least one will fail to come to fruition.
Either way, Rose is committed to building the team “the right way” going forward.
“Our focus will remain to be strategic and thoughtful in our team building, doing it the right way, while feeding off of the momentum from the end of last season and prioritizing our player development program,” Rose said.
And, of course, the statement closed with Rose saying “thank you to Knicks fans for your continued support.”
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